Discipleship Series (Lesson 1) 09-10



Discipleship Series (Lesson 6) 10-24-12

They Understand & Practice Spiritual Warfare Pastor Al Hulten

Text: Ephesians 6:10-18; Memorize: James 4:7

1 John 3:8 The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. A disciple of Jesus cannot take the position “I’m just going the leave the devil alone.”

THERE IS__________________

Luke 10:19; 2 Corin. 11:14; 1 Pet. 5:8; 1 Thes. 3:5; Rev. 20:7-10; Jn. 8:44; 1 Thes. 2:18; Rev. 12:7-13; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:16-17; Matt. 13:19, 38-39; Mark 1:34; Luke 10:17-20

The devil and his demons were once angels, living in heaven as beautiful, holy creatures.

HE HAS _________________

Ephesians 6:10-12; 2 Corin. 2:10-11

Satan operates in three realms: _______________, ____________, ________________

,

He ___________ the _________. Matt. 13:19

He ________________ people. John 8:44; Rev. 12:9 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Cor. 11:3, 13-14;

2 Thes. 2:9-12; Rev. 20:7-10

He _____________ people to ________. Matt. 4:1-3; 26:41; 1 Cor. 7:5; 1 Thes. 3:5

He ____________ people. Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26; Matt. 8L16

He _________ people into ______________. Luke 13:10-16

WE CAN DEFEAT HIM. Satan and his demons are not omnipotent. James 4:7

The promise:

The condition:

If I am not submitted to God, my resisting the devil will be in vain.

Our ________________. Luke 10:19; Matthew 8:5-10

Our ___________________ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Luke 10:17; Ephesians 6:10-18

Our _____________ 1 John 3:8; 5:19-20; Ephesians 2:1-2; Acts 26:17-18; Colossians 1:13-14

Are you an average Christian, or are you a normal Christian? An average Christian lives in defeat with occasional moments of victory. A normal Christian lives in victory over his sinful nature, the devil and his demons, with occasional moments of defeat.

06 – They Understand and Practice Spiritual Warfare 10-24-12

Ephesians 6:10-18; Memorize: James 4:7

In today’s scientific world, there is often a strong disbelief in anything that is non-physical – anything that cannot be proven scientifically. “If I cannot touch it using my 5 physical senses, I won’t believe it.” And as a result, many people won’t believe in the God of the Bible.

And a real, personal devil and demons? You must be kidding. Even many Christians have been deceived into ignoring the devil and his demons, and so these evil spirits go about their work unrecognized and largely unchallenged.

Others have the theory that if they leave the devil alone he will leave them alone. One man in a former church even said that to me. “I’ve made a deal with the devil” he said. “If he leaves me alone then I’ll leave him alone.” And he was serious.

But as Christians, we are to be followers of Jesus. He lives His life in us and does much of His work through us.

Listen to what 1 Jn. 3:8 says: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. A disciple of Jesus cannot take the position “I’m just going the leave the devil alone.” Jesus didn’t. He came to destroy the devil’s works & He wants to continue to do that thru us.

In no way am I seeking to glorify the devil and his hosts of hell in talking about them tonight. But they are real. And I want us to again see what the Bible says about them, who they are, how they operate, and most of all, how we as followers of Jesus can defeat them in our lives – to destroy the works of the devil. PRAY.

Tonight we are looking at spiritual warfare: A Disciple of Jesus Understands and Practices Spiritual Warfare. For there to be warfare and battles and struggles there has to be an enemy. Knowledge of the enemy, of his tactics and schemes and plans, of how he operates and how he can be defeated is vitally important information for every Christian. And that is why we are studying this tonight.

Let’s look for a few minutes at: 1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.

THERE IS AN ENEMY.

Here he is called the devil. In other places he is called Satan, angel of light, adversary, tempter, deceiver, liar and father of lies, hinderer, ancient serpent, accuser of our brothers, the dragon, god of this world, prince of the power of the air, spirit that works in the children of disobedience, Lucifer son of the dawn, guardian cherub, the evil one, or just simply “the enemy”.

Luke 10:18; 2 Corin. 11:14; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 Thes. 3:5; 2 Corin. 11:3; John 8:44; 1 Thes. 2:18; Rev. 12:9-13; 2 Corin. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Isa. 14:12; Ezek. 28:16; Matt. 13:19, 39.

The Bible also talks about demons (devils in KJV) Demons are evil spirits who do Satan’s bidding. (Mark 1:34; Luke 10:19-20).

The devil and his demons probably were once angels, created by God, living in heaven as beautiful, holy creatures. Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 both contain references to the devil, at that time called Lucifer, morning star, son of the dawn, guardian cherub.

Jesus said in Luke 10:18 I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. And Revelation 12:7-10 describes this event further:

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

One day in heaven, Lucifer began to grow proud, and in his pride he mounted an attack on the throne of God, trying to usurp that throne. And the devil and the angels who joined him in that rebellion were cast out of heaven and today continue their assault on the Kingdom of God.

There is an enemy. And secondly…

HE HAS SCHEMES.

Read Ephesians 6:10-12. The devil has schemes & we have struggles.

Discuss around tables: What are some of Satan’s schemes? What are some of the things the devil tries to do to people? Try to be as Biblical as possible. RESPONSES.

2 Cor 2:10-11 says: I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

When we are unaware of the devil’s schemes, he can outwit us. Too many people do not recognize the workings of the devil because they don’t know what it is that he and his demons do. Again, this is not to frighten you, but to inform you; we don’t have to be afraid of the devil, but we do need to be alert.

Satan operates in three realms: the physical, the mental, & the spiritual. Some of what we experience in our battle with the devil will be in the physical realm: our bodies will be affected. Much of what we experience in our battle with him will be in the mental realm.

Fear is in our mind; worry is in our mind. Past memories that we play over and over again are in our mind. Lust is in our mind. Anger begins in our mind. But there is also our spirit, and the battle touches that as well. Here are some of Satan’s schemes:

He steals the Word – In Matt. 13 Jesus tells a parable about a man who went out sowing seed, and in the process the seed fell into 4 different kinds of soil. It’s my kind of story. When Jesus gets done, His disciples ask Him to explain the story to them. In v.19 Jesus says: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

The reason we try to make our preaching and teaching just as clear as we can is so that people can understand it. If they don’t, Satan comes and steals away that which was planted so that it won’t bear fruit.

He deceives people – And this is a huge one.

In John 8:44 Jesus says that Satan is a liar and the father of lies.

Revelation 12:9 says that he deceives the whole world.

1 Tim 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

There are deceiving spirits in our world today, and many of them are very religious. If you do not stand with your spiritual feet planted firmly on the Bible, you are going to have real problems today. How do you know if that impression you feel, that inner voice you hear is telling you the truth or telling you a lie? Your feelings at the time may or may not be accurate.

You’ve got to put your faith in something. Why not put it in this book that has stood the test of time for nearly 2000 years?

Satan’s goal in all this is to corrupt our minds. In 2 Cor 11:3 Paul says:

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

That term “led astray” is an interesting one. The KJ and the NKJ both use the word “corrupted”. The Greek word means “to shrivel or wither; to spoil; to ruin by moral influences; to deprave.” That’s what Satan wants to do to your mind. That’s why he attempts to deceive you.

2 Cor. 11:13-14; 2 Thes. 2:9-12; Rev. 20:7-10

He tempts people to sin –

Matt. 4 begins: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil…The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Tempted to sin by the devil: Jesus was, and so are you, and so am I.

Satan keeps good records. He knows where you are weak better than you do. And he knows when you are weak. So he tailors your temptations specifically for you. He tempts you to let your mind dwell on things that are not good for you; he tempts you to say things that are not helpful but rather hurtful; he tempts you to do things that bring shame to the name of Christ rather than glory to it. He is the tempter, and so are his demons.

Matt. 26:41; 1 Cor. 7:5; 1 Thes. 3:5

He inhabits people –

I’m not sure if this is distinct from possessing people or not. But here is the passage. Jesus is speaking:

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. Matt. 12:43-45

I have heard discussions and read books and articles in magazines and journals that talk about whether or not a Christian can be demon possessed. My belief is that a Christian cannot be possessed by a demon. That level of demonic activity seems to indicate control of the person, and I can’t see how Jesus can be in control of my life and at the same time a demon be in control. But this passage makes it pretty clear that demons do inhabit people. Christians? That’s not so clear.

Matthew 8:16 talks of people who were demon-possessed being brought to Jesus, and He drives the spirits out of them. But we never see Jesus or any of His disciples doing that with people who were His followers. If I am the temple of the Holy Spirit, will He share His temple with demons? Personally, I don’t thing so. But we do see that…

He brings people into bondage – And I think this can be true of both believers and unbelievers alike. (If time, read Luke 13:10-16). Crippled, afflicted by an evil spirit. He affects us physically some times.

As human beings, we are habit forming creatures. That capacity can be used for great good, and it can also be used for evil. Our habit forming capacity in itself is morally neutral. But Satan knows about that capacity and he seeks to use it for his own evil ends.

We all have bad habits, and while some of them are annoying to other people, they have little spiritual consequence. It isn’t really too socially acceptable, but picking your nose will not keep you from living a life of spiritual victory. Some people, rather than using a handkerchief or a Kleenex sniff their nose all the time. It sometimes drives me nuts when someone is doing that, but it’s not going to hinder them spiritually.

But then there’s cigarettes, and alcohol, and drugs – both street drugs and prescription drugs – pornography, and sexual addictions. There’s self-pity, and negativism and criticalness and gossip and over-eating. And many of these habits become a spiritual bondage that holds us back from all that God has for us. Satan loves to bring us into bondage.

Satan has a lot more schemes than those 5, but I want us to move now into the third part of this teaching. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told to “resist him.” That means…

WE CAN DEFEAT HIM.

Satan and his demons are not omnipotent. Only God is all-powerful. James 4:7 says Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He is not irresistible. You and I can resist him; we can defeat him. But don’t forget the first part of that verse. The second part gives us the promise; the first part gives us the condition, and it’s our memory verse for the week.

Submit yourselves, therefore, to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you. If I am not submitted to God, my resisting the devil will be in vain. (repeat). We’ll talk more about the reason for that in just a few minutes. But in order to live in spiritual victory, in order to be successful in spiritual warfare, I must first submit to God. Rebellion against God and consistent spiritual victory are mutually exclusive. And the reason has to do with…

Our Authority.

In Luke 10:19 Jesus said to His first disciples and to us: I have given you authority (to trample on snakes and scorpions and) to overcome all the power of the enemy; He has given us the authority that we need.

But our authority is not a resident authority. It rather flows from God, through us, against Satan.

Listen to Matt. 8:5-10 (read). Jesus commended this Gentile’s faith because he knew that authority flowed from an ultimate source through us. It does not originate with us. Satan does not respond to our authority but to God’s authority as it flows through us. And unless we are submitted to God, there can be no flow of Divine authority through us to Satan.

But when we are submitted to God, then His authority can flow and Satan must flee when we resist him.

2 Corin.10:3-5: For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

ASK: What is Paul talking about here? What are some of the weapons we fight with?

A clean heart. 1 John 3:21-22; Isa. 59:1-2; 1 John 1:9

Luke 10:17: The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." (not a magic word).

Ephesians 6:10-18 (read). Talk about Sword of Spirit.

Our Mission – 1 John 3:8: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

1 John 5:19-20 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

Eph 2:1-2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Acts 26:17-18 I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Col 1:13-14 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

The Bible is pretty clear: there are only 2 kingdoms, and you are in one kingdom or the other. There is no in-between realm.

If you are not in God’s kingdom, the kingdom of light, then you are in Satan’s kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. That truth is often offensive to those wonderful, nice people who are still in that kingdom of darkness but it is true. And Satan is doing all he can to keep them there as part of his kingdom.

As disciples of Jesus, we are not just trying to make it to heaven ourselves; we are also trying to take as many people along with us as we can. And in order to do that, we have to destroy the devil’s work; we have to help others escape from the kingdom of darkness and take their place in the kingdom of light.

So, tonight are you a normal Christian, or are you an average Christian? An average Christian lives in defeat with occasional moments of victory. A normal Christian lives in victory over his sinful nature, the devil and his demons, with occasional moments of defeat. A normal Christian is doing all he or she can to see others set free from the enemy’s control; the average Christian is unconcerned about the lost. Are you an average Christian, or are you a normal Christian?

God’s desire is that you would be normal, not average. What do you want to be? Why don’t you spend the next few minutes talking to God about that? Need for power of Holy Spirit in all this.

Personal prayer.

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